Archive for 'Education | Homeschool'
Differences In Boys and Girls Are Many…Especially In Writing Styles
Posted on December 7, 2011, by Kim, under Education | Homeschool.
Yesterday in school, the children and I both learned something new while studying our Geography lesson. Did you know that children were trusted to hide Norway’s national treasury of gold bullion during the WWII German invasion of Norway? We didn’t either. So, to add creativity to our school day, I asked the children to brainstorm ideas and put in their words how they think those children might have felt.
Both writing assignments are good, but as you will see, very different. I know that I never have to ask Abby for more detail, but Ethan and I tend to go round and round on what is missing. I am not saying one is better than the other, they are just different. Below is an example of their writing styles.
Abby
4th grade
The Norwegian Adventure
A Tale of a Child’s Bravery During World War II
Hello, my name is Ingrid, and I welcome you to our beloved country, Norway. I am happy to tell you that you have come to visit at the right time. World War II has just ended, and we were being invaded by the German soldiers. This was very frightening, but my story is quite funny. It’s a great story, would you like to hear it? You would? Ok! So, the story starts with the Norwegian soldiers trying to hide the national treasury of our gold bullion. The Norwegian soldiers saw children on sleds and stopped them to ask if they could help. Of course the children said, “yes.” I was one of those children. I was so scared, but we thought of a plan! We didn’t realize how heavy the gold bullion was, they must have been at least 50 pounds each. Some of us couldn’t even lift the bullion. We each grabbed as many as we could and began hiding them in our coat pockets and on our sleds that were all covered in snow. We started sledding down hills and began building snowmen. Little did the German soldiers know, that we were hiding the gold bullion in the snowmen we were building. We would sled by the soldiers or they would walk by us and they didn’t even have a clue! It was so much fun.
I wish you the best, and if you’re ever here again, stop by. Maybe I will have more stories for you. Now you know a little piece of history from my beloved country, Norway.
Ethan
6th Grade
Letters From a Norwegian Child
In the Times of World War II
Dear Joseph,
Today, my friends and I were sledding in the snow when we heard that the German army was coming to attack. We were very nervous, but knew that the Norwegian soldiers would protect us. We overheard our army talking about the national treasury’s gold bullion and they were scared that the German soldiers were going to steal it. My friends and I told the soldiers that we could hide the gold in all the snowmen that we built that day. They were happy to let us help. I sledded right past a Nazi with about four gold bricks in my coat and eight on my sled. We thought the Nazi’s were so dumb because they never saw that we had been loaded up with gold. We couldn’t believe we outsmarted them! We fit about 12 gold bricks in the base of the each snowman.
This was a very fun and exciting day, now we just have to pray that the Nazi’s DON’T FIND THE GOLD!!!
Sincerely,
Gunnar
As you can see, they both have a different writing style, but their writer’s voice is fun to read!
This was a fun assignment to have the children do, but it was more fun learning something about history. This is one of the most rewarding things of homeschooling my children. I get to learn with them!
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In This World, Not of It
Posted on September 26, 2011, by Kim, under Education | Homeschool, Family | Relationships.
It seems as though things are getting harder and harder as the days go by. I am not only talking about my own healing since my dad’s passing, but the world is just deteriorating day-by-day. I know that every generation has said the end is near, but for some reason I really believe it will be in my lifetime. Things are getting harder and harder every day. Just this week I have a friend experiencing her first round of chemotherapy after being diagnosed with Invasive Ductal Carcenoma breast cancer at the age of 35, a friend’s husband has been relocated to Tullahoma, Tennesse and their house hasn’t sold, so she will be staying here in Indiana with their six children, and a friend will lay to rest her baby sister that died from complications after being diagnosed in 2008 with Non-Hodgkins Lymphoma. She was only 34 and has left behind three small children and a husband.
My mind is filled with so many questions that leave me fully relying on a very blind faith. I have always hated the saying, “It’s not fair,” but to me there seems like there’s nothing to say, but that! In my quiet time with God a couple of weeks ago, I had a full out temper tantrum. I cried out to God, saying “God! How is this your plan? How is this even fair! How could you do this?” All the “how” questions you can think of, I asked. I told God that I just don’t understand why life has to be so hard, and the Holy Spirit fell on my spirit and calmed me and whispered ever so gently in my ear, “Kim, you are supposed to long for me, for heaven, for peace, for happiness and nothing of this Earth will ever fill your desires.” I was overcome with such peace. See, the thing I learned is, God is so much happier when we hate being here! We don’t reside on this Earth to fulfill any other purpose than to build God’s Kingdom, and I have been very challenged by this assigment.
Sure, we can enroll our children in the best schools, push them to be the best athletes or to the top of the class, but for what? If we aren’t teaching our children to build the Kingdom, are we even teaching them at all? People, we have a calling! It isn’t to live vicariously through our children, but rather raise bold young men who will be warriors for their family. Who will not fight with them, but rather for them! We are to raise young women who care for her family the way God instructs, to uplift her spouse and be his helpmate. Some young women today, don’t even know how to make toast. What is wrong with our world? We have simplified things so much, that it has dumbed down our society. We have people complaining about things not being fair for their children, thus building the mentality of entitlement. What happened to working hard to accomplish something?
I know I am on a soapbox. I know I am on a tangent, but we need to wake up! Our days are short! People are out in the world dying without a relationship with Christ and how many of us are just sitting by and watching it happen? Where is the passion that God so badly wants us all to have? I remember hearing a message by Tony Campolo, and he said something like this to a congregation of believers, “People are dying and going to hell and you don’t even give a damn! As a matter of fact, you are sitting there more concerned that I said ‘damn’, than the fact that people are dying and going to hell.” What is wrong with us?
Sure we want our children to be intelligent, and want to watch them succeed. We want them to have the best and why wouldn’t we? We are created in His image and he wants the same for us. Our problem is when we fail to let God receive all the glory for our accomplishments. I am not trying to bash us all over the head with a Jesus stick, but I just feel so burdened that we have dropped the ball! Instead of being weird, we have become just like the world. We are not called to blend in with the world, but rather to stand out and be a shining light.
There are simple solutions to these problems! We should always be seeking opportunities to shine God’s light and to start good relationships with non-believers, or those who’ve been away from God and the church for too long. It is our HIGHEST calling!
Listen, I am not trying to scare or even make predictions, but let me just put this out there. Since my dad’s been gone (5 months), our family either knows or knows of people who have lost their loved ones and it’s been in the double digits. Granted people die everyday, and our sensitivities are very heightened because we’ve lost a loved one, but I believe the people that God has called to be with him are about to serve a greater purpose. God is building his army for a great war, where he will swoop in and finally save us from this sinfilled world! Aren’t you longing for the day? I know I am! I wish I could join hands with everyone I love so deeply and just walk right into heaven, but I can’t. So, until then, I will do my very best to live in this world, but be not of it!
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What Happened to Just Teaching the Basics?
Posted on April 7, 2011, by Kim, under Education | Homeschool, Family | Relationships.
Dr. Karen Gushta
My husband and I recently attended the Midwest Homeschool Convention in Cincinnati, Ohio. It was a weekend jam-packed with wonderful and inspiring speakers. I still can’t stop thinking about the session I had the privilege of attending. It was titled “Homeschool Apologetics 101“, and Karen Gushta was the speaker. She gave ten reasons to home school your children. Now, I know that this is not a popular topic, but I cannot always write about what is popular. Gushta was full of insight and a wealth of knowledge. I wish I could have spent more time with her.
My husband and I decided to take the home school plunge in 2010. It’s a decision which many feel is a weak and cowardly way of handling the “real” world, but to us has been one of the boldest decisions we’ve made as a couple. We knew there were things about the public school system that were broken. I didn’t realize how broken it truly was until I heard Gushta speak. She shared with us that the government controlled schools really aren’t teaching “our” values. I used the quotes because, you may have a different value system. What I have to say may offend you, but I will not apologize for my beliefs.
Karen told us that parents are believing a myth that their children’s school is fine. In 2009, 77% of parents gave their school a grade of an A or B. Why? She shared that many parents really have no idea what is truly going on in the school. There is another curriculum being taught in the schools and she called it, “The Hidden Curriculum”. Hidden? What could this possibly mean? Here are three topics that if they haven’t already invaded your child’s school, they will before you know it.
- Sex Education – Do you know that most sex ed classes are sponsored by Planned Parenthood and based on findings of Alfred Kinsey. Here’s a link to learn more about who is Alfred Kinsey. I’m not sure about you, but I know I don’t want this agenda pushed on my child when the time comes.
- Homosexual “apologetics” – Are you aware that many high schools around us currently have clubs that teach tolerance for homosexuality? It is a fact that a high school just ten minutes away from our home encourages the kids to wear purple on Wednesday to show their support for the Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual, and Transgender community.
- LGBT curricula (Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual and Transgender) – If this doesn’t get your attention, I don’t know what will. Kevin Jennings the Assistant Deputy Secretary for the Office of Safe and Drug-Free Schools at the U.S. Department of Education is actively pushing this agenda in our public schools.
Of course this post reflects my opinions. It is up to us to do the research and to decide what is best for our family. I may try too hard to push my opinion off on others, but I also feel strongly that the Bible instructs us to be the educators of our children. This is how I have felt God leading me, so it is very difficult for me to sit back and watch families think all is well here in the Bible-belt of America. Do some research, ask questions of your kids about what they’re learning in school. What are they hearing from friends? What are they being “fed” at the lunch table? You may be very surprised by the realities of your children hearing and learning things that you thought they wouldn’t learn for a very long time. I don’t want my children to be naive, but I also don’t want them to grow up too fast. I don’t want their innocence raped and I certainly don’t want their morals and values molded by the public school system.
If you’d like to hear another story of why a family decided to home school their children, I encourage you to read these two posts by my friend Heidi: Why We Home School – Part 1 and Why We Home School – Part 2
